Monster Hunter Wilds has already climbed to a colossal Steam player count within its first few hours. The long-awaited successor to Monster Hunter World and Rise, Capcom’s two best-selling games ever, Wilds is already shaping up to contend for that title based on its early response. It’s not all good news, however – as expected based on the beta test and review reports, optimization concerns have left many unhappy. Currently, the initial review score for the new RPG sits at ‘mixed,’ with frame rate issues chief among the criticisms.
I’ve been waiting a long time to get my hands on Monster Hunter Wilds, and on the whole I’ve been incredibly satisfied with it. You can read our Monster Hunter Wilds review for my full thoughts, but the combat is tremendous fun across all fourteen weapon types, the environments are even more alive than those of World, and I even enjoyed the more involved story than we’re used to from the series. While it’s likely to be one of the best RPGs of 2025, however, the optimization leaves a little to be desired.
Across the first four hours since launch, Monster Hunter Wilds has reached a Steam concurrent player count peak of 987,482 – tantalizingly close to that million mark. While it’s dropped off a little for now, there’s a very good chance it will get there as the US audience joins in and we head into the weekend. Whether it’ll manage to top Valve’s mighty free Steam game Counter-Strike 2 remains to be seen.
Steam user reviews currently sit at a ‘mixed’ score with just 45% being positive. Most negative reviews mention the game’s performance and frame rate, with a few players stating that they are unable to run the game at all. Other key criticisms include the confusing range of menus you’ll need to navigate to add your friends in-game and concerns that the early monsters are ‘too easy,’ removing a sense of challenge in the opening hours.
It’s worth noting that the total review count of just over 4,000 pales in comparison to the colossal player count, so it’s likely that most people who are leaving reviews are those who found the performance troubles jarring enough to stop playing, while those without issue are simply continuing to explore the Forbidden Lands. That’s not to discount the concerns – Monster Hunter Wilds certainly should run better than it does, and unless you have a rather beefy rig you’ll probably encounter some less-than-ideal framerates.
With my playtime just reaching the 100-hour mark, I’ve been able to run the game at a mostly consistent 50-60fps at 1440p on high settings using my Ryzen 5 5600x and RTX 3080, but I do see occasional drops into the 40-50 range. As someone who put thousands of hours into the 30fps version of World, I’m actually fairly content, but I’d certainly like it to be higher. We’ve put together the best Monster Hunter Wilds settings to help you get there.
Personally, the easier early hours don’t worry me – as a veteran player, I’m used to breezing through the opening of a new Monster Hunter game. I would like some more challenging endgame content, and a more dedicated space to hang out with friends, but Capcom has now announced that we can expect both of these when the first title update arrives in early April. For now, you’ll want to consider what level of performance you’re happy with, and decide if your system is ready for that or if you’d rather wait for more improvements.
Trying to decide which of the Monster Hunter Wilds weapons to start with? We’ve got you covered, along the best Monster Hunter Wilds builds for each weapon.
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